Neji nodded expressionlessly, then asked, "During the day, I saw a group of Sunagakure ninja arrive at the oasis. What were they here for?"
Seeing Neji change the subject, Sara sighed inwardly and replied helplessly, "Those Sand ninja came to collect a head tax from us."
A head tax?
Neji's brow furrowed slightly.
Tax collection was not the ninja's responsibility.
After a moment's thought, he guessed Sunagakure's real intentions.
The Dragon Vein was a source of natural chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast. There was no way Sunagakure wasn't interested in it.
But Rasa wanted both to save face and to get what he wanted.
Taking it by force was Kumogakure's style.
Besides, the Dragon Vein was connected to Konoha. If Sunagakure seized it outright, it would be difficult to explain to Konoha.
So they needed a legitimate pretext.
Rasa was putting economic pressure on the descendants of Rōran, hoping to force them to submit to Sunagakure.
Then Sunagakure could take over the Dragon Vein as a matter of course.
Konoha would have little to say about it.
Neji suddenly asked, "Your Highness Sara, why not take your people to Sunagakure? Surely that would be better than wandering from place to place in the desert?"
"Heh."
Sara gave a cold laugh. "Since when has Sunagakure ever cared about the lives of ordinary people? There's no guarantee we'd have a good life there. We're better off staying in the desert. Life may be hard, but at least we're free."
Neji fell silent at her words.
During the Third Shinobi World War, Sunagakure had been the first to start a war and the first to surrender to Konoha. They had made themselves look like clowns.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind was so enraged that he cut Sunagakure's military funding year